February 2005

Not the knife block for everyone

This is one sick and funny knife block. I'm surprised no one ever did this before. Too bad you can't buy it. By Vice Versa.

Thanks to Gizmodo.

Cool baby name graph

This is a very slick site that displays the popularity of different names over the past hundred years or so. Looks like there were a lot of babies named Tony when I was born. My parents were so trendy...

Name Voyager

Thanks to Chooky Fuzzbang for this link.

The best knife in the world

There's a small set of things I always have in my pockets. My cellphone. A pen. An LED flashlight. These are all useful to me almost every day. But the thing I've carried most consistently over the past few years is a Spyderco Delica, aka the "Clip It"

The Delica is small, lockback folding knife. There are lots of these kinds of knives, but the Delica stands out in a few ways.

First, it has a clip on the side that allows me to hang it on the corner of my pocket; the clip is reversable so I can carry on either side of my body (and I do). This has a few benefits. First, it's just way more comfortable to carry this way; it's not turning sideways in the bottom of my pocket like the Swiss army knife I used to carry. Second, I always know exactly where it is and in what orientation.

This leads to the next benefit. I can open and close the knife with one hand, quickly if necessary. Invariably, when I need to cut something, I'm already holding it.

Next, the knife is super comfortable to hold and use. It's small and light (and short enough to legally carry virtually everywhere). The bump on the back of the blade is a perfect place to rest my thumb. Together with the slight curve on bottom, I feel secure that I can push a bit on the blade with less risk of sliding forward. This alone makes it preferable to me than most of the straight handled folding knives.

Finally, it's got a good blade. It's sharp and holds an edge. The blade comes in three configurations -- serrated, smooth, and combination (half serrated, half smooth). I prefer the smooth or combination blades. Spyderco also makes a trainer version with a dull blade.

While the knife looks purposeful and a bit scary to some (and I'm sure it would be useful in a fight), I find myself relying on it almost every day for some mundane task -- cutting down a box for recycling, peeling an orange, cutting out a newspaper clipping. I use the knives so often that I am acutely aware now when I don't have one (like on flights after 9/11.) These are useful tools, well-designed and well-made, and relatively affordable. What more could you ask for?

Delirium

I'm still sick but finally starting to feel a bit more human. The last few days have been a weird haze of drowsiness, otc-cold-medicine fog, and self-induced West Wing marathon bleariness.

The last the most interesting part. Michelle and I have both been watching episode after episode. Our banter has become a little sharper and wittier, even in our current condition. Gawd, I hope I don't start voting Democratic next...

I'm sick

Ugh. I have that achy, fevery, runny nose thing. Nothing like kids bouncing on you to make a bad thing worse. What's more, I haven't been sleeping well. My mind keeps racing; I have 2-3 story lines running in my head. It's like I'm channel surfing in my dreams. Weird.

Two things have eased my condition. 1. Michelle made some killer chicken soup this evening. She's my hero. 2. Our friend Mike loaned us his West Wing seasons 1-3 boxed sets. I'd forgotten how much I love West Wing; it's even better without commercials, in order, all at once.

Michael's kryptonite

Michael (4), my evil child who strikes fear in others, has a weakness. Michelle discovered the other day that Michael is afraid of flies (but "just a little bit" according to Michael.)

Hard to believe that Mr. Dangerous is afraid of flies, but I guess even Superman had a weakness. I guess Andrew (7) will need to carry a little vial of flies with him from now on to ward off Michael.

A good review with BillG

Every so often, product teams at Microsoft have a review with Bill. We had ours last week. Unlike my last meeting with Bill, there were no near-disasters preceeding the meeting other than a last minute time change that got us there a half-hour early.

My boss showed off his Jedi Master skills in keeping the meeting flowing (not always easy with Bill and half-a-dozen VPs in the room). Bill seemed super pleased (even pleasantly surprised) with our plans for the next version of Internet Explorer. My part went fine with little drama.

Bill had his usual assortment of insightful comments and notes on who else we needed to talk to in the company. He seemed upset only three times; fortunately, only one was aimed at us (this is something of a record, I think). In my 14.5 years at Microsoft, it was easily the best Bill review I've been in.

Now, we just need to go ship it...